


If you don't know...

by milecgv



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Luke Hemmings & Ashton Irwin Friendship, M/M, Matchmaker Calum, Matchmaker Luke, Michael Clifford & Calum Hood Friendship, Mutual Pining, Narrated from Luke and Calum's side, Shy Ashton, Shy Michael, Slow Burn, Students, fluff in general
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-12 13:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9073216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milecgv/pseuds/milecgv
Summary: Calum couldn’t take it anymore. 
It’d been three months of this. Three months of watching his best friend desperately pinning over the cute dimpled guy who sat on the other side of their economics class. Six fucking months of watching said cute dimpled guy shyly glancing at Michael while his idiot best friend was too invested in a book to pay attention to the subject their teacher was giving. 
They’d been playing this game for a quarter of a fucking year and Calum had just about had it with the two. Something had to be done.





	1. Every time I see your bubbly face

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeeeeyyyy!!!! I'm back!!!!!
> 
> My first semester at Uni was so crazy, I had no time to sit down and write all the ideas I had. This fic is one of them!  
> Luckily nothing lasts forever and vacations have done me well. Behold, the first chapter of a fic I'm incredibly excited about. I hope its cute, fluffy and angsty and that you guys like it. It's a slowburn but I hope you stay with me. 
> 
> Without further ado, here's the fic.

Calum couldn’t take it anymore.

It’d been three months of this. Three months of watching his best friend desperately pinning over the cute dimpled guy who sat on the other side of their economics class. Six fucking months of watching said cute dimpled guy shyly glancing at Michael while his idiot best friend was too invested in a book to pay attention to the subject their teacher was giving.

They’d been playing this game for a quarter of a fucking year and Calum had just about had it with the two. Something had to be done.

He knew he couldn’t get anywhere near dimpled guy while they were econ because his best friend would strangle him for even thinking of meddling. Michael liked to think he had his shit together and was choosing on purpose to remain completely impassive while he mooned over dimple face but Calum could see right through it. He guessed that was the result of a thirteen year old friendship. And as part of his sworn best friend duties, it was up to him to man up when his best friend just couldn’t.

Lucky for Calum, the universe was on his side and he had one more class with dimple face; _Introduction to psychology_. So when Monday rolled around and he dropped Michael off at the art building for his classes of the day, the brunette put his plan in motion.

Usually, he always sat in the middle of the classroom, because it said “ready to learn but not too eager to get asked on”; perfect if you asked him. But not today. He grinned as he stepped through the door and spotted dimples with his head stuck in a book, sitting in the first row. Strolling right up, he took the seat behind him and began taking out his laptop.

He’d written his plan out step by step and pulled up the word doc, going over his conversation starters and grinning smugly to himself. He could _easily_ be a spy. _007 had_ _nothing_ _on him_.

The time had come.

“Hey man, could I bother you for a second?” He said, lightly tapping dimples on the shoulder.

Dimples whipped his head back, his eyes wide and curious behind rimmed glasses. He had soft hazel eyes, with a little bit of green in them and he smiled up at Calum when they made eye contact.

“Sure man, what’s up?”

Calum laughed at that. The guy had a thick Australian accent that was undeniable and a light bounce to his voice that made him almost instantly likeable. _Almost_ , being the key word, because he had on a polka dotted shirt that was _hideous_ in Calum’s humble opinion.

“This is kind of embarrassing, but, I kind of zoned out in the last class and I have no fucking idea where we are? So I was kind of hoping…”

“If I could forward you my notes?” The guy finished for him, adding a giggle to his sentence and making Calum laugh again. Michael was going to go crazy when he heard that giggle, Calum would never hear the end of it. In his best friend’s opinion, this guy was beyond adorable and everything he did deemed at least text texts of praise from Michael’s phone to Calum’s. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the sonnets Michael would write about his laugh after he’d heard it.

“Yeah man. That would be amazing, if you could.”

Dimples smiled easily, turning back for a moment to bookmark where he’d stopped in his book and took out his laptop from his messenger bag.

“Oh! You don’t have to do it no-”

“Nonsense,” Dimples waved a hand like it was no big deal, a few curls bouncing from his undercut, while he powered on his laptop. He had a giant Nickleback sticker next to his touchpad and Calum couldn’t help but gasp.

“You like Nickelback?”

Dimples looked up at that, eyes narrowing just the tiniest bit as he said apprehensively “Yeah, why?”

“Dude,” Calum answered, putting up his hand, “Best fucking band ever!”

Dimples giggled again, and high fived Calum back. “Right? I don’t know what the fucking hate is all about.”

“Haters man,” Calum shrugged, “If you don’t have em’ you ain’t doing things right.”

“Amen, preach that brother.”

Calum liked dimples. He could see him and Michael working out, rocking to the same music, and giggling at each other like the love sick birds he already knew they would be. His plan was going to go spectacularly. He needed to start writing his best man speech for their wedding.

“Hey!” Dimples’ voice startled him back to reality.

“Sorry,” Calum said sheepishly, he hadn’t realized he’d zoned out thinking of Michael’s wedding with dimples. “Come again?”

Dimples shook his head and giggled (man, he did that a lot) before complying. “I asked you for your email address.”

“Oh right! Calpal_96@gmail.com”

“Calpal?” Dimples asked as he typed in the address. He was grinning teasingly and Calum couldn’t believe the guy’s nerve. They’d barely met and he was already bantering with him. _Perfect for Michael_.

“Hey! It sends the right message, okay?”

“And what’s that?”

“ _You’ve got a friend in me…_ ” He sang the beginning of the theme song of Toy Story and Dimples lost it, straight out cackling and making the other students around them turn to look; some curious, some downright irritated by such a sound at such an early time in the day.

Dimples looked apologetically at them before turning back to Calum and his laptop. He still chuckled a bit as he hit a few keys before looking up at Calum.

“Well Calpal, there you go.”

“Thanks man!” Calum turned to find a new email in his inbox, and had to laugh at the email address.

“Oh, that’s rich,” He said, raising his eyebrows and grinning, “Astro Ashton?”

“Mine also conveys a message” _Ashton_ replied, stretching out his arms and singing out “ _Fly me to the moon…_ ”

“Hopelessly romantic and stuck in the 1950’s?”

“Exactly!” He exclaimed, covering his mouth when two other students shushed him. His voice dropped to a whisper, faking seriousness “How’d you know?”

“I have an IQ of 187…”

“And you like the Big Bang Theory?!” Ashton asked, grinning from ear to ear. “Remind me again why we hadn’t met before?”

“My friend Michael got me into them,” He replied back, smirking slightly as he saw a shadow of recognition pass through Ashton’s eyes. _Aha, gotcha!_

“Well, your friend has great taste in modern TV shows.”

“Yeah he does.” Calum replied proudly. “I’ll tell him you said that.”

Before Ashton could reply, or justify the small blush that had dusted on his cheeks, their teacher entered the room and the boy quickly turned around to pay attention.

Step one of his plan: Success!

* * *

 

“You’ll never guess who talked to me today!”

“Please tell me it was Michael Clifford. _Please_.” Luke groaned out, while finishing the last sentence on his essay. Why the fuck had he signed up for advanced calculus this semester? Why did he think it’d be better to his physique.

“Close! It was Calum!” Ashton shouted, from the kitchen as Luke double checked the saving of his document before getting up to greet his roommate.

“Who the fuck is Calum?”

Ashton turned around with ham and cheese in his giant hands, setting down the ingredients and busying himself around the kitchen while Luke sat on the stool of their breakfast bar and watched him.

“He’s Michael’s best friend!”

Luke watched as his own best friend moved from side to side, gesturing wildly and smiling as he grabbed the bread from the cabinet, back to the fridge for the mayo and over to the their sink to wash two plates. They were college students on a tight budget, there was no money to spare for an overtly amount of silverware.

“Did you talk to him about Michael?”

Ashton turned back to him appalled, glaring at him before turning back to the piece of bread he was spreading mayo on.

“Of course not you idiot!”

Luke sighed, _of course not._ He rolled his eyes. “Then what did you talk to Michael’s friend about?”

“He wanted my notes from our last class and we started talking. He’s a really cool dude! You’d like him.”

“Yeah, I bet I would.” Luke said, less than enthusiastic. His head was killing him and all he wanted was for his best friend to find some balls and use them to end his misery and at least _talk_ to this Michael guy. He was so tired of hearing all about his _amazing green eyes_ , and the way his lips were _a totally unheard shade of red for guys_.

“What are you so pissy about?” Ashton asked, dropping the cheese on the bread in favor of looking at Luke.

The blonde contemplated replying exactly what he was thinking, but then he took in Ashton: making them dinner without being asked and excited about possibly the first real connection he’d made with someone in a long time and Luke couldn’t bring himself to snap at his friend. He couldn’t be that shitty to a man in a terrible polka dot shirt and big concerned hazel eyes. It was basically a crime.

“It’s just this paper. I’ve been working on it all day and now I have a headache.” Ashton’s eyes seemed more concerned, and Luke felt warm from his friend’s worry for him. Truth was no one had ever cared about him the way Ashton did. Ashton was always more in tune with Luke’s emotions than he himself was and maybe that’s why Luke had always felt something more than what you should feel for your best friend. Not that he’d ever dwell on it too long to label it, but he knew it was there, in the back of his mind. Always present.

“Don’t worry about it,” Luke waved him off, and Ashton opened his mouth to protest but Luke already knew what he was going to say. “As soon as we eat, I’ll take an aspirin.”

Ashton smiled warmly at that and Luke ignored the way his stomach fluttered a little. Instead he rolled his eyes at the hazel boy.

“Can’t get mad at me for taking care of my little man.”

“A, I’m not little. I’m several inches taller than you, if you recall. And B, I’m not your man.”

Ashton gasped, finishing the second sandwich and passing it to Luke. “I resent that Luke Robert Hemmings! Have some respect. I could _easily_ be your father!”

Luke raised an eyebrow and Ashton tried to give him a stern look, but then Luke wiggled his blonde eyebrows at him and Ashton cracked, giggling as he took a bite of his own sandwich.

“You make a mean sandwich, I’ll give you that.”

Still chewing, Ashton winked at him and Luke’s chest hurt a little inside. Fuck, he was so screwed.


	2. Can I be close to you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year's guys!!!! I hope you've a good start to the year and that this can only add to it. Your comments were so sweet on the first chapter, made me want to write this one as soon as possible. This one's a little longer than the last chapter but I had so much fun writing it! Hope you guys enjoy!!

Michael was having a bad day.

Since the moment he’d woken up, he’d been in a foul mood and Calum knew that when days like these started, there was nothing more for him to do than to wait it out and go along with the things his best friend wanted.

He was used to it by now. Over a decade with someone helps to know what are the boundaries you can and cannot cross, and when it would feel like overstepping or crossing a line. Which is why he never argued with Michael when those types of days hit him. They were different from time to time and Calum knew how to handle them by now, at least most of the times.

There were the sad days, the days where Michael couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed, and those days were spent with Michael in his bed, cuddling up to the ghostly pale boy, coaxing him into playing video games and finishing the chapter of whatever book he was reading. They were mostly silent, but Calum would always do his best to be present and make the day that much more bearable for his best friend. Others were the angry days. Those were a bit trickier because anything could set Michael off and make him bicker with Calum. So whatever he said, that’s what Calum would do. And he knew Michael appreciated it, could see it in the way his stormy green eyes would narrow and his mouth would open to deliver some sort of blow to whatever Calum had just said, but then he’d refrain it, excusing himself from the room and coming back a few minutes later with a small apology and a hug for the tawny boy.

Loving his best friend meant loving all the parts that made him, so Calum couldn’t complain. Michael had been there for him his whole life, so it was inevitable he’d do the same. Which was why Calum was sat at their favorite coffee shop on campus, playing Candy Crush to pass the time as he waited for Michael. The boy had texted him earlier, wanting Calum to meet him in their usual booth so they could carpool home. The text was dry and the brunette knew not to expect much conversation on the way home.

He sighed as he lost the round, thumb hovering over the x to close the app, when he heard a small gasp followed by an excited “Calpal?”

Next thing he knew there was an excited boy rocking on the balls of his feet in front of his table. Sporting a red beanie that hid almost all of his dirty blonde hair, except for a funny tuff that peaked over his forehead, and a long black oversized sweater, Calum had to admit the boy looked _good_. He contemplated taking a picture to show Michael for when he’d arrive, _who knew_ , maybe it could brighten up his day. But he chickened out, chuckling instead at the giddy expression in Ashton’s hazel eyes.

“You do know you can just call me Calum, right?” He said and Ashton rolled his eyes feigning exasperation.

“Now why would I want to do that, when Calpal is just a much more accurate description of your character?”

“Oh! We’re in character descriptions now, are we? Well what can we deduce about Astro boy huh?”

“I thought we’d gone through this already _Calpal_.”

“Right,” He nodded, “You’ll have to excuse me today, my mind is all over the place.” He let out a sheepish chuckle but Ashton’s eyebrows furrowed a bit.

“Everything okay?” He asked, his voice laced with concern.

Nothing was ever okay when Michael was feeling down, but he wasn’t about to blurt that out, so instead he waved the boy’s concern away, blaming his confusion on a headache and watching Ashton’s eyes light up.

“I have just the thing for that!” He said, and then cupped his hands around his mouth before turning back and shouting “Hey Luke! Get over here!”

Calum wasn’t sure what was going on, and was about to tell Ashton there was no need, it was basically nothing, but was cut off when the boy Ashton had called, jogged up to his side.

“Ashton! For fuck’s sake! You don’t need to yell my name out for the whole coffee shop to know!”

The guy’s voice was deep, also enthralled by a rich Australian accent that resonated somewhere within Calum’s chest. But that wasn’t even half of it. While the boy exasperately talked with his friend, and seemed to grow frustrated with Ashton’s lack of concern for civil norms, the brunette took him in silently.

He was tall, taller than Ashton and that was saying something. He had dark golden hair that cascaded in waves onto his forehead, a sort of ‘just got out of bed but I can totally rock this look’ type of thing. His skin was almost as pale as Michael’s, standing out against his red-checkered flannel and his eyes were a piercing cerulean color. In fact, his whole face seemed like it was carved out by some Greek god’s greatest vision and Calum had the insane idea to glide his index down the slope of the boy’s perfect nose to see how that would feel like.

He was snapped out of his trance when Ashton gently shook his shoulder, diverting Calum’s gaze from his friend towards him. Embarrassment coated his face as he realized he’d been caught staring.

“You really aren’t okay, are you Cal?”

There was genuine concern in Ashton’s voice and Calum just shook his head sheepishly, not really trusting his voice while still feeling in a sort of trance.

“What’s wrong with him?” Luke asked, annoyance clear as his golden eyebrows furrowed even more.

 _Great,_ he thought, _way to make a first impression._ He mentally scolded himself for being so lame in the face of such beauty.

“He said he has a headache, _that’s why_ I called you over.”

“Oh,” Luke spoke again, and this time much more softly, concern also clouding his own eyes and coaxing them into a lighter shade. The boy began rummaging the pockets of his incredibly tight jeans and Calum really wanted to look away but it was _hard_. His legs looked great in them.

Finally, Luke produced a small pack of what looked like aspirins and extended them over to Calum.

It suddenly seemed wrong for Calum to be seated and for the two boys to be hovering over his table, so he invited them to sit down with him as he accepted the pills. The boys agreed and just as they were sitting down, the door of the shop opened and all three of them turned to see a familiar bleached haired hurricane walking in.

Calum wished he could have had a camera to capture Ashton’s reaction. The boy’s eyes seemed to bulge out of his head when he saw Michael, and before anyone could do anything, he was shoving Luke out of the booth, saying a quick goodbye to Calum before power walking away, steering a confused Luke with him and leaving the remaining brunette stunned at his table.

Calum’s own friend approached the booth slowly, eyes fixated on the two figures still moving towards the other side of the shop. He stopped short and quirked an eyebrow at the Calum, eyes indecipherable as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Was that…?”

“Ashton, the love of your life, Irwin?” Calum finished for him, not being able to suppress the huge smile that was spreading on his face. “Yup.”

Michael’s eyebrows seemed to almost reach his hairline, and he opened his mouth various times before seemingly deciding on closing it and sliding into the booth, sitting across from his best friend.

“I guess the better question would be… Why?” He said, seeming unsure himself.

“Why what my dearest Michael?”

“Why was Dimples sitting here, with _you_ , and another guy?” Michael deadpanned.

“ _Ashton_ was sitting here with _Luke_ because they thought I had a headache and were being really nice, trying to help.” Calum explained sweetly, taking his time to say each word so his best friend could follow.

“Okay,” Michael said slowly, licking his lips as his brows furrowed even more, “ _How_ do you know Dimples’ name and why would he _and_ this Luke guy care if you had a headache.”

“Well, he told me his name a couple of days ago when he was kind enough to email me some notes from class, and as it turns out, _they_ bumped into _me_ while I was waiting for your pissy ass to show up.”

He couldn’t help the smug expression he felt his face contort into and when Michael repeated he still didn’t understand, he felt the laugh bubble out of his chest.

“Why don’t you go get yourself a coffee and I’ll try to break it down for you.”

Michael expression fell flat and he flipped him off but starting making his way out of the booth, before stopping near the edge and turning to Calum.

“Why did you tell them you had a headache?” He asked, eyebrows scrunching up in confusion.

“Maybe because I _did_ have a headache, ever think about that?” Calum challenged back.

“Calum, I know when you have headaches. Your face get’s that damn puppy look like you’re about to be put down or something.”

“I do not-”

“Yes you do,” Michael smiled knowingly at him, shaking his head fondly as Calum tried to protest again. “Next time I’ll get it on tape so we won’t have to have this discussion again.”

“Weren’t you going to go get a coffee?”

“Alright, geez. You tell a guy the truth and he gets all touchy about it.” He muttered as he stood up, but he was smiling and Calum watched him go with something akin to relief in his chest.

He’d been worried today would have to be hard, but he’d been right before; just seeing Ashton was enough to brighten Michael’s day. With that in mind he made it his absolute mission: operation Michael and Ashton was to be immediately launched into phase two. They had no idea what was coming.

* * *

 

“If I hear the word _Michael_ one more time, I swear to God Ashton, I will throw you out of my room and lock the door.”

Luke whirled around in his office chair to see Ashton sighing, _once again,_ while being sprawled out on his bed, with an arm dramatically draped over his face.

“But Luke-”

“No buts Ashton,” He said, trying to sound stern. “As if it isn’t enough to spend the entire car ride hearing you yap about him, you have to come into my room and drape yourself all over my bed like you’re a fifteen year old having their first crush?”

“Lucas, have you no heart?” Ashton asked, taking his arm away from his face long enough to give Luke puppy eyes before going back to his dramatic position.

Luke sighed, “You’re hopeless.” He said and turned back to continue working on his ad. He’d had the idea the week before when Halsey had called him up, begging him to tutor her on the math of her advanced engineering course, because she hadn’t quite thought it through when she’d decided to major in music engineering. Turns out, it wasn’t enough to be something akin of a musical prodigy for all the subjects; you also had to know advance math. Which lucky for her, was Luke’s department, as he was majoring in Mathematics.

How their friendship came to be was a sort of mystery to Luke, but they’d met at a party Ashton had dragged his roommate to and the rest had been history. He’d held her hair as she’d puked and she’d introduced him to a very nice brunette who’d taken him back to his dorm for an adult sleepover.

And after her desperate phone call, he’d had the idea to put up an ad on the college’s website and print some fliers out to hang on the bulletin boards in the arts department. He knew that’s where people might end up needing his tutoring skills a bit more.

He was trying to figure out the best way to advertize himself but Ashton’s continues sighs were making it extremely difficult.

“What did you think of him?” The hazel eyed boy suddenly asked, distracting Luke once again from the sentence he was trying to compose.

“What do I think about whom?” He answered, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“About Michael, of course!”

The mention of the name made him groan, and frustrated he erased the entire sentence and closed the document. He wasn’t going to get any work done until Ashton was out of his room. So he finally turned around, settling with the chair against his desk and giving his roommate all of his attention.

“Dunno, you shoved me out of that place before I could actually _see_ him.”

“Bullshit, you saw him sitting with Calum when we were walking out.”

It was true. Luke had seen a bit of the boy as they’d hurriedly escaped from the coffee shop but he didn’t want to think about it. He thought Ashton had been exaggerating about the eyes but he wasn’t. They looked like freaking emeralds carved into his pale face. Just thinking about them made Luke’s gut churn and he wasn’t even going to acknowledge the boy’s damn lips.

“More like running out.” He grumbled instead and rolled his eyes when Ashton shot him a pointed look. “I just don’t understand why we couldn’t have stayed there talking with Calum. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Oh, did he?” Ashton asked and Luke narrowed his eyes at the suggestive tone in his voice.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

“You’re crazy,” Luke rolled his eyes. “Weren’t we talking about your precious Michael?”

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about Michael.” The shit eating grin on Ashton’s face was really bugging Luke and he was debating weather or not it was okay to slap his best friend.

“I _don’t_ want to talk about him.”

“Would you rather talk about his hot best friend?”

“I’d rather talk about _no one_.” Luke said pointedly, standing up and walking to his door.

“So you admit he’s hot.”

Luke opened his door, “And now it’s time for you to leave.”

“So you can think about how hot Calum looks, in private?”

Luke couldn’t help the blush that coated his cheeks at such an implication, and he made his way over to his best friend to pick him right up and carry him out of his room. Ashton shrieked in surprise and held onto back, protesting all the way until Luke dumped him onto his own bed.

“Luke wait!” Ashton said, between wheezes and giggles, as the blonde was about to exit his door. “Just answer me this.”

“What?” Luke demanded, hovering over the threshold of Ashton’s door.

“Calum’s hot isn’t he.”

Luke thought for a moment. The boy had tawny skin and had been sporting a rather tight dark blue shirt with the words ‘MAINE’ written over the chest, which was definitely working for him, especially when the tattoos on his muscled arm had been on display. He’d had a cute blue beanie that hid most of his dark hair, thought his fringe peaked from under it, framing his face and making his rich brown eyes that more intriguing. And then there was his mouth, which, _shit_ , was _definitely_ a great mouth.

“Yeah, he’s hot.”

“I knew it!” Ashton said triumphantly, pumping one fist in the ear.

“You’re ridiculous,” Luke replied, chuckling as he shook his head fondly.

“You think Michael likes ridiculous people?”

“And we’re done.” Luke said, turning around and closing the door.

“Wait Luke!”

“What?” He groaned annoyed.

“Answer me this. Do you really think, Michael could like… like me? At the very least, be attracted to me?” His voice sounded small, so unlike the out going and bubbly boy Luke was used to. It made him feel terrible that someone could make him feel so insecure of himself.

“Ash,” He started, fumbling over his words. “You’re adorable. No, don’t look at me like that, you are! Your personality is adorable, everyone likes you. That Calum guys only met you once and he’s already smitten with you. And, you’re hot. With your muscly arms and your cheekbones, and your greenish eyes. You’re a catch Ashton. And if a stupid guy can’t see it, he’s not worth your time.

“Woah,” Ashton said, letting out a small giggle and definitely not making Luke’s heart flutter. “I should hire you to be my wingman.”

“Yeah,” Luke said dryly, “Maybe you should.” He closed the door behind him, sighing to himself and making his way to his room. He needed to sort his thoughts out and get his shit together _soon_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! And thank you if you read until the end ^^


	3. I saw your face in a crowded space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guuuysss! Your comments are so sweet (and luke centered, I get it). I have decided I will post once a week, every friday (just letting you guys know, so you can keep tabs on the story). 
> 
> Thank you for reading this!! It means so much to me. (Also, so sorry for any grammar mistakes, I beta this myself so sometimes I miss certain things I've written wrong).
> 
> ENJOY!!!

Calum was amused.

As he parked their car in the parking spots in front of their exact sciences building, he could see Michael from the corner of his eye, wringing his hands together nervously as he chewed on his bottom lip.

“Would you relax?” Calum chuckled, encouraged even more by Michael’s glare.

“No Calum, I can’t just _relax_.”

“Sure you can,” The brunette insisted, turning off the ignition and turning to look at his friend properly. He was wearing one of his many denim jackets, the ones he’d personalized to look cool and punk rock, which he’d succeeded at because the thing looked straight out of Sid Vicious’ closet. Underneath it was a simple band tee complemented by his usual black skinny jeans. He was dressed to impress, but his face seemed paler than usual, green eyes a troubled shade under his bleached fringe and snapback. “Look, it’s just econ class, no need to make a big deal out of it.”

“I wouldn’t need to make a big deal out of it if _someone_ hadn’t gone and befriended my crush!”

Calum couldn’t help the laugh that tumbled out of his chest, feeling Michael swat him weakly before the boy slumped against his own seat.

“Hey, it’s not a big deal.” Calum said finally, recomposing himself a bit. Michael continued glaring at him and he felt a bit bad. He really didn’t think it would be a big deal for Michael.

For the most part, the days following their encounter with Ashton had been great. Michael hadn’t shut up about him once, insisting on recalling every little detail of their almost meet up and interrogating Calum on his own time with the hazel-eyed boy. Not that it’d been a burden for Calum himself, who looked fondly back at the five minutes he’d been able to ogle Ashton’s ridiculously hot friend Luke.

But this morning, after Calum had complimented him on his outfit, winking suggestively about _someone being in the mood to impress_ , Michael had begun shutting down.

Which was understandable, but Calum still felt bad for somewhat pushing his friend out of his comfort zone. Michael wasn’t quite convinced Calum had innocently asked Ashton for his physiology notes but he’d let it go in favor of stressing out over their potential actual meet up in class.

“Mikey, I don’t get what you’re so stressed out about. Last night you were almost squealing in excitement that you’d get to talk to Ashton. What changed?”

Michael crossed his arms stubbornly across his chest and decided to glare down at his own lap instead of meeting Calum’s eyes. He seemed like a five year old about to throw a tantrum and the brunette sent a silent prayer for patience to the sky before trying again.

“Mikey, I thought we were just going to say hi to Ash. But we don’t– If you really don’t feel up for it, we don’t have to do _anything_. We’ll just go straight for our usual spot and forget about the whole thing.” He said it earnestly, because, as much as he did want to play cupid and push the two boys together, he needed to find a way where they’d both be comfortable enough for it.

Michael sighed, a bit too dramatically if you asked Calum, but at least he turned to look at his best friend’s concerned face.

“Well that would be _rude_ , considering you’ve already talked twice with the guy and all.”

“Then I’ll go say hi while you go to our seats. Happy?”

“ _No_.” He whined, pouting his lips and endearing Calum enough to not snap back at the boy.

“Then what do you want Michael?”

“I just don’t want to ruin it!” He let out frustrated, taking off his snapback and running a hand through his hair.

“Hey, hey,” Calum said softly, taking Michael’s free hand between his own. “Ruin what Mikey?”

“I just-” He hesitated, licking his lips before continuing. “You know why I never looked him up? You know, to at least get his name, stalk him a bit. The usual?”

Calum shook his head.

“It’s because– Like, he seems unreal. You get me?”

Again Calum had to shake his head because he was more than lost here. Michael rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed but obliged a further explanation.

“Ugh, it’s like he’s _too perfect_. _His face_ is perfect, _his body_ is perfect, his sense of style is _ridiculous_ but it’s so perfect for him, like he can pull off any fabric that comes in contact with his body because that’s just _who he is_. It’s like he’s something straight out of my dreams. But what if it’s just _that_? What if the universe just wants me to see him from afar, kind of like those people you see once in a lifetime on the train and then never see again but you can never stop thinking about them. You get me now? What if I break the spell? And he turns out to be nothing like I imagine? What if–”

“Whoa, Mikey. _Slow down_ ,” Calum interrupted him, unable to keep the fond smile off his face while his friend took a breath from his nervous rant. “This isn’t a marriage proposal Michael, this is just saying hello to the cute guy on the other side of your economics class with your best friend by your side.”

“Yeah but–“

“No buts Mikey. This is like thinking you’re going to drive off a cliff before you’ve even had your first driver’s lesson.”

Michael snorted, but his eyes seemed to be a calmer shade of green than they were a few minutes ago so Calum counted that as a win.

“You’re making this out to be a James Blunt song before you get to actually meet the guy. Let’s take things slow okay? Let’s say _hello_ , and see where that takes us. And then we can decide if it was worth all this freak out.”

It took a couple more seconds but finally Michael nodded, giving Calum’s hand a tight squeeze before letting go. Calum ruffled Michael’s hair and laughed as his best friend retaliated by flipping him off before getting out of the car and rearranging his hair under his snapback.

Once they made their way into the building and were walking to their classroom, Michael brought up their assignment from the last class and with a groan Calum complained he felt like he knew _shit_ , even after having paid as much attention as he could during the course. It was just hard for him to understand why he even had to take an economics course if he was pursuing a professional career in soccer. Michael was laughing at Calum, about to reply, when someone crashed into him.

It all happened too fast for Calum, one moment Michael was next to him, the other he was on the ground groaning, yet to see who had fallen on top of him. Calum held his breath as Michael opened his eyes, clearly annoyed, already beginning to cuss the person only to stop mid sentence when they locked eyes.

“What the fu–”

There, as if the universe had decided that it wasn’t going to take anymore of their shit either, was Ashton “Astro” Irwin, with his body completely sprawled over Michael’s, looking up at him from where his head had awkwardly fallen onto the pale boy’s chest.

It felt like forever to Calum, watching them as they both just stared at each other before Michael came back to his senses, and with a slightly dazed voice asked the boy on top of him if he was okay.

That seemed to snap Ashton back to reality, and he started frantically apologizing, trying to get up from where his body was pinning Michael’s to the floor, only to lose his balance again and land back on the pale boy. Only this time Michael’s arms caught him reflexively before he smacked his head against the bleached boy’s.

Michael’s immediate response was a laugh that seemed punched out of his chest, and it probably was with the way he was holding Ashton’s chest above his own body (and Calum had never seen his best friend lift anything heavier than a plate of food from the kitchen onto wherever surface he was about to dump his body on, so he could sense the physical strain). Ashton of course, ever the giggler, began nervously giggling and soon the both of them were laughing incredulously while holding onto each other to avoid another crash.

“You guys need some help down there?” Calum asked, smirking when the two boys snapped their attention to him as if they had forgotten he was even there in the first place. They both had ‘deer in the headlights’ expressions on their faces and Calum decided to take pity on them.

“Here Ash,” He said, walking toward the pair carefully and extending his hand towards the boy. “Take my hand.”

He pulled him up, making sure Ashton could stand properly before helping his best friend up too and making sure his back was okay after that nasty fall.

“To think I was just on my way to introduce you two, but the floor beat me to it.” He said casually.

Michael’s previously pale face was beet red and Ashton’s cheeks were flushed, weather from the fall or Calum’s comment, it was hard to tell but he turned to Michael nonetheless, hazel eyes wide and apologetic.

“I’m really sorry man, the floor was wet, and I was too busy trying to find my phone in my bag to notice the damn sign and–“

“Ashton!” Michael cut him off, laughing softly and tucking his hands in his back pockets. “It’s okay, I’m just glad you had a soft landing rather than a painful encounter with the marbled floor.”

“Thanks Michael.” Ashton said bashfully, his hand coming to rest on the nape of his neck as he looked up at Michael with relief. Michael for his part seemed surprised, green eyes wide and eyebrows rising.

“You know my name?” He asked, wonder and disbelief as clear as day on his face.

“Of course I know your name,” Ashton said with a giggle, stopping short after he heard the words come out of his mouth. He looked over at Calum panicked and as much as Calum didn’t want to interfere, just wanted to watch the scene unfold, he knew Ashton needed saving.

“I told him,” Calum interjected quickly, “When we we’re talking about The Big Bang Theory.”

Ashton seemed relieved at that, and Michael nodded, agreeing with the logic of the statement so Calum felt it was time to properly introduce the pair.

“So Michael Clifford, this is Ashton Irwin,” He said, gesturing between them. “Ashton Irwin, this is Michael Clifford, the guy with the good taste in TV shows and even better taste in best friends.”

Michael mumbled a “Doubtful” and snorted, offering a smile at the boy and holding his hand out for Ashton to shake, allowing Calum to mentally high-fived himself. _007 had fucking nothing on him._

* * *

 

“It couldn’t have waited until I got home?”

“No!” Ashton squealed, almost shoving the bag of takeout, he was carrying, in Luke’s face.

“Careful with that Ash,” Luke said feigning irritancy, but truly curious as towards why Ashton had asked him out to lunch, dragging him out of the lab even though he was supposed to be in class on the other side of campus.

“Sorry,” Ashton apologized, offering an apologetic smile, “I just couldn’t wait any longer!”

“Alright,” Luke replied, curiosity definitely sparked, “What’s up”?

“Well,” Ashton started, excitement visible in his voice. He was practically beaming, almost bouncing on his heels as he pushed open the doors of the building and led them to the green area right next to Luke’s lab that was often used as a picnic stop for the students. “I met Michael today!”

“Hadn’t you already met him like, three months ago when you started class and decided to make my every day a Michael update feed?”

“Not true!” Ashton corrected, giggling and plopping himself down under an available tree with good shade from the midday sun. “But what I meant is, I met him properly! You’ll never guess how!”

“I’m dying to hear about it,” Luke said, burying his sarcasm into the bite he took of the burger Ashton had bought for him. The explosive taste of the honey mustard and the delicious meat made up for the conversation he was about to endure.

“Well, I was on my way to class, trying to find my keys, when I stupidly slipped on the wet floors.”

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Luke mumbled, swallowing down dryly.

“Of course I am! I fell on Michael!” Ashton exclaimed, throwing one hand in the air as he held a can of diet Coke towards Luke with his other one.

Luke’s eyebrows rose high as he accepted the can and washed down his food. “How exactly did that happen?

“Well when I slipped on the floor, he just happened to be walking by, also on his way to class and we collided.”

“Okay, got it. Continue.”

“So I hadn’t even realized it was him until I looked up and he was looking down at me! His green eyes were super clear! It was almost like a waterfall color. So we kind of, stayed like that, staring at each other. And then he asked if I was okay and _Luke_ , that voice. It’s like, out of this world. It’s all raspy but also sweet?”

Luke zoned out after that, humming at the right times in the conversation, but entirely devoting his attention to the hamburger he was rapidly devouring, until something Ashton said stuck with him and he had to pause.

“So we all sat down together and when–”

“Wait what?”

“What what?” Ashton asked, stopping mid sentence and frowning at Luke.

“Back up,” Luke said, putting down his almost finished burger and properly looking at his friend. “Did you say… You gave Calum my number?”

“Oh,” Ashton’s confusion defused and he gave Luke a sly smile. “Yeah, I did.”

“What? Why would do that?”

“Well, unless you weren’t listening,” He said, narrowing his eyes at his friend, “I said it’s because he needs a tutor for class.”

“Okay, then why don’t _you_ tutor him? You understand it all just fine”

“Well my dear Lucas, maybe it’s cause I’m not the one who has been putting out flyers about tutoring for all the math courses throughout campus, have I?”

“Yeah but economics isn’t math.”

“Says who?”

“Says everyone who’s ever taken the course? It’s about the market, and the laws that apply to economy.”

“See, you already know everything there is to know. You’ll have no problem tutoring Calum.”

“I hate you.” Luke grumbled. He chewed viciously on the last piece of burger he’d abandoned as Ashton laughed heartedly.

“For helping you get paid while you tutor one of the hottest guys in school?”

“He’s not one of the hottest guys here.”

Ashton gave him a pointed look.

“Fine, _he is_.” Luke obliged, throwing his wrapper at Ashton’s smug smile. “But that will just make it harder to concentrate when I’m trying to explain what transfer of wealth and production means.”

“I don’t think you give him enough credit Lukey boy. He could really surprise you.”

“I doubt that.”

“ _And_ , he’s on the soccer team.”

Luke’s eyes went wide. Ashton knew one of Luke’s weaknesses was soccer players. It was the reason he’d essentially realized he was gay, and his guilty pleasure. He knew almost nothing about the sport, but Friday nights he’d sit down in front of his TV with popcorn and drinks, and drink himself silly watching gorgeous sweaty men running behind a ball and slapping each other’s butts. It was like porn, but healthier.

“Fuck,” Luke finally replied. And then as an afterthought he added, “But don’t try to set us up.”

Ashton put his hand over his heart, in that dramatic way he got when he was lying through his teeth but he thought Luke bought it. “Why, I would _never_!”

“Yeah, alright William Shakespeare, I’m just warning you so you don’t waste your time.”

Ashton was about to reply, when Luke’s phone dinged and he turned his attention to digging it out of his back pocket. It was a message from an unknown number.

‘ _Hey_ ’   
_‘Is this Luke?’_

Luke held his breath, turning the phone to Ashton. “Is that him?”

“I don’t know his number so you’re going to have to ask.”

“Ugh, I hate you.”

“Just answer.”

‘ _Yes, this is he._ ’ He replied. The message came almost instantly.

‘ _Hi! This is Calum, Ashton’s friend. I was wondering if you could help me out? Ashton said you were tutoring and I really need your help._ ’

He typed his reply but hovered over the send button. Shaking his messy head he hit send before he could back himself out of it and pocketed his phone.

‘ _Sure, tell me what you need._ ’

**Author's Note:**

> Well I really hoped you guys liked it! Please tell me what you thought and hopefully very soon we'll have a second chapter!!!
> 
> Thank you for reading until the end.
> 
> (Fic tittle from "If You Don't Know" by 5sos and chapter tittle from "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat.


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